We went to Kauaʻi because my husband really wanted to see the Nā Pali Coast, or specifically the Honopu Arch. He saw this beautiful coastline in the 1970’s King Kong and always dreamed about seeing it in person.

Kauaʻi is called the garden island because it’s so lush and tropical even compared to the other Hawaiian Islands. And really this is what Kauaʻi has to offer; unparalleled green beauty that will leave you stunned.

Getting there

From Chicago we flew from Midway to Los Angeles using Southwest, where we had to overnight near Los Angeles Airport at the Hilton. It was a pretty decent hotel that I paid with Hyatt points. But it didn’t matter too much since we returned to the airport pretty early for our Hawaiian Airlines flight to Lihuʻe, Kauaʻi.

From Los Angeles, Kauaʻi is about a 6 hour flight from gate to gate. One of the highlights of the flight is that Hawaiian Airlines serves full meals as well as a rum cocktail before you land! That is more than other airlines flying to Hawaiʻi.

Map

Below I have provided a map so you can visualize where we went. For us these are essential places to visit while on Kauaʻi!

Lihuʻe

I’ll start with Lihuʻe since its really where all the tourists arrive on Kauaʻi. Lihuʻe lies in the southwest corner of the island and is the largest city on Kauaʻi. This is definitely the most city feel you’ll get on Kauaʻi but even Lihuʻe is small compared to other Hawaiian cities.

Kalapaki Beach

Within 5 minutes of the airport there is a beautiful beach with a resort and Duke’s, a famous Hawaiian restaurant. I love to do research before I travel, and so we went straight to this beach as it’s near the airport.

Now Kauaʻi is known for a few things, including being the rainiest island in Hawaiʻi and one of the rainiest places on earth. So it’s really no surprise that we did have rain while we were there however we learned the rain has been relentless this particular winter. One of the rainiest and cloudiest on record so we were expecting a lot of rainy days.

And when we got to Kalapaki Beach it wasn’t the sunniest weather. However, we just ordered a couple of mai tai’s at Duke’s and we were set to go. Even on a rainy day Kauaʻi can still be entertaining.

Kōloa Rum Company

Just west of the downtown area, there is the Kōloa Rum Company. We learned that this place is quite new in producing rum as it once was a sugar plantation. That failed after sugar is no longer really produced in the USA anymore, so they had to switch to producing rum and offering tours of the surrounding plantation.

The grounds are beautiful and well worth the visit alone. They did offer a train tour that we didn’t take, but looked interesting and covers the surrounding plantation. But really we were there for the rum tasting because we were lucky enough to taste some on the plane ride over.

And it was amazing. They sell all types of rum, including coconut, spice, and the most popular, coffee. The coffee is perfect to drink on its own, as it goes down so smooth and is infused with real coffee. It was divine and we plan on buying the rum from a distributor in Chicago.

North Coast

Out of all the places in the Hawaiian Islands, this northern coast of Kauaʻi is one of the rainiest, and most lush. It really is a tropical rain forest and if you don’t show up on a rainy day, you’re probably the exception. It rains nearly everyday, mostly just a light drizzle. We came knowing that and although it rained for a lot of the time, it was part of the experience in being in Kauaʻi.

Wainiha

Hanalei is really the last major city on the northern coast of Kauaʻi. It has a few shops and stores but it mostly serves as the jumping off point for many Kauaʻi activities. We chose to stay in a Homeaway in the mountains just west of Hanalei above a little village called Wainiha. Driving here is really slow as there are so many twists and turns through the mountain side. There is the possibility of landslides which actually happened to us on the 2nd day on our way back to our Homeaway. We were forced to stay in Hanalei for a bit while they cleared the road.

Nearby there are actually great beaches like Tunnel Beach, Lumahaʻi Beach, and Keʻe Beach. To be honest you don’t go to Kauaʻi really for the beaches as although they are great they can also be rained out. We went to Kauaʻi to explore the island.

The rain forest house we stayed in was one of the highlights of the trip. It’s really in the rain forest and we would spend our time listening to the surrounding waterfalls while drinking Hawaiian beer. In a few words, it was absolutely sublime. The house also had a hot-tub and we spent the evenings just chatting, petting the local cat, and hearing the roosters crow.

Hanalei

There are some things to do in Hanalei and but it’s a rather sleepy town. We would use Hanalei to eat at restaurants, and get some groceries. There is a beautiful beach on the backside of the main strip of the town.

Princeville

Princeville lies just northwest of Hanalei and is mostly a resort town. To be honest there isn’t much to do here either, but we did have an amazing coffee break at the St. Regis that overlooks Puʻu Poa Beach. They have this beautiful lobby, where anybody can come in to have breakfast or a cup of coffee. I highly recommend the “Macadamia Nut Coconut Latte.”

Kilauea

Just east of Princeville lies Kilauea, a small village that has a cute little lighthouse. We only went to view the lighthouse from a distance as it was like 5 dollars for each person to get into the park. However, we still got a cute photo. It was rainy that day so we really couldn’t spend much time outside anyways.

East Coast

This area is the most developed out of any part of Kauaʻi. That’s where most of the big resorts are and most of the population of Kauaʻi. We spent time in Wailua at the Waipouli Beach Resort & Spa. We used this hotel to jump off to the surrounding area as well as the southern and western parts of the island.

Wailua

It was a great place to grab some groceries or a Starbucks and start off our day exploring. Our resort had an amazing restaurant called Oasis on the Beach and it was a great place to eat. Probably would have been more amazing with the rain and clouds but still.

Nearby there are amazing waterfalls to visit and we went to two of the best ones, Opaeka’a Falls and Wailua Falls. These were both in multiple movies and because it had rained hard this winter, they were both gushing with water.

Kapaʻa

This city sits just north of Wailua and is actually walking distance. We went there when we wanted to eat or shop for souvenirs. This is where we bought our mongo nut and kukui nut necklaces that I love!

If you’re visiting Kapaʻa, I would definitely eat at the Olympic Cafe, on the second floor right across from the ABC Store. It has a large menu, relatively cheap alcohol, and a great choice of food including healthy ones. We somewhat tried to eat healthy and the Olympic Cafe had a big enough menu to do that.

Southern and Western Coast

The southern and western coasts are perhaps the most iconic parts of Kauaʻi. We certainly took the most pictures here specifically of the Waimea Canyon and the Nā Pali Coast which can only be accessed by boat. There are also some plantations like the coffee farm we visited.

Kauaʻi Coffee Company

We actually went here the first day as it’s really not that far from the airport by car. The Kauaʻi Coffee Company sits below the mountain slopes in which the coffee grows on. When we drove in, we saw just rows and rows of coffee growing. Kauaʻi may not be the most known of the Hawaiian Islands to grow coffee, but it certainly has a wide choice locally grown on the island.

The best part about visiting is that they offer free coffee to sample while you shop around, relax or have some dessert. There is also a guided tour in case you wanted to learn more about how coffee is produced on Kauaʻi.

Waimea

If you continue further west there is the city of Waimea. This city marks the beginning of the drive up to the famed Waimea Canyon. We went early because everybody said it was essential before the clouds started rolling in and yes they were right. We arrived at the furthest point of the drive at around 8:00 am and clouds were already beginning to roll in.

Back in the city, after our trek into Waimea Canyon, we ate at this tiny place called Ginas Anykine Grinds Cafe. It was actually one of the cheapest places we ate at in Kauaʻi and a great spot if you are hungry after Waimea Canyon.

Puʻu O Kila Lookout

This lookout is still in the Waimea Canyon State Park and it is the furthest point in Waimea Canyon possible to drive to. From the eastern coast of Kauaʻi it will take nearly 2 hours to get to this point. We got to this lookout in the morning and were the only ones there. This is worth the drive as we got stunning views of the valley and ocean below.

Kalalau Lookout

This lookout is right next door to Puʻu O Kila and provides a different vantage spot to view the valley below. By the time we got here the clouds were already covering the valley but we waited for around 15 minutes and then the clouds disappeared.

Waimea Canyon Lookout

This is actually the first lookout from the road but we came to this lookout last. Why? Well because the further lookout points are way more likely to be covered in clouds as the day goes on.

Waimea Canyon Lookout, on a clear day, is so amazing. The vantage point is filled with waterfalls, red dirt with lush greenery. Coming to Waimea Canyon just for this view alone is worth it.

Kiahuna Beach

We only went here because we had time to kill after Waimea Canyon. We thought we might as well go drink some alcohol drinks while looking at the beach. It’s a beach not too far from Lihuʻe or Port Allen with some good choices of restaurants to choose from. Worth a visit if you really have seen everything else on Kauaʻi.

Nā Pali Coast

For me the highlight of Kauaʻi is the Nā Pali Coast. It is only accessible by boat, usually through the city of Port Allen. We took Holo Holo Charters and loved it! One of the best tours we have ever done.

Now the boat ride we did was around 4 hours long and came with drinks, food and an experienced crew who knew all about the coastline. The tour basically took us up and down Nā Pali Coast, stopping at important stops like the Cathedrals and Honopu Arch.

I went crazy with photos while on this tour as well as videos. To me this is the most important part of Kauaʻi and certainly should be seen, either by air or boat. By air would have been cool, but with boats you’re more involved as the crew can stop at waterfalls, take photos of you, and give a good explanation about the coastline. We went on a day when the waves were calm and there was no rain so that definitely added to the experience. We really had a great time on this tour.

Review of Kauaʻi

Kauaʻi is more underdeveloped than all of the major Hawaiian Islands so you may run out of things to do. But to me the point being on Kauaʻi is to slow down and really take in one of the kind scenery. We can safely say that we saw all of Kauaʻi and pretty much drove or boated around the entire island in a reasonable amount of time.

There are really no negatives about Kauaʻi for me and you can’t go wrong if you choose Kauaʻi. It’s a very beautiful, lush island, and perhaps one of the most iconic islands in the world. There really isn’t a place like it, not even in the Hawaiian Islands. I loved it and so did my husband.

The only thing that I can say to be aware of is that Kauaʻi is more rainy than the other islands. If that’s not your thing and you get bothered by the rain then maybe Kauaʻi is not the best for you. Personally, the rain only bothered us the first few days as it was a downpour, but this season is apparently one of the rainiest on record. However, the rain still went away for half of the time we were on Kauaʻi.

Kauaʻi has some of the most scenic landscapes in the world and everything is within a reasonable distance of your hotel. It’s possible to spend as little as you like here or a full week and still have fun. Just bring money as for us Kauaʻi like the rest of the Hawaiian Islands, is expensive.